Avarice

I can't see thermite going through an entire engine block... Maybe warp and melt into the first inch or so, but to burn through the whole block you're going to need alot more than a 50 cent piece size. Have to 'experiment' this one in a junkyard some day. Also I don't know about going through tank armor, but they often used it to render enemy tanks and mortar firing weapons useless/dangerous as they passed through (toss a thermal 'nade through the barrel). Mind I've only used thermite a couple of times, perhaps the mixture was off but it wasn't as insanely powerful as people make it seem to be.

http://www.rotteneggs.com You can find some info here, although it's all user posted so use caution. Just search for chemical equivalency in Eggs.

Only way I can describe it is, it looked like orange/red Playdough was placed on top of the KCl.. except it was the same hardness as the KCl.. I'll have to try again later with proper items.

Just an update.. In lieu of carbon electrodes, I decided to see if ordinary pencil lead (graphite, or carbon) would conduct electricity.. it did, so I used pencil lead from these rather large pencils I had. 12 volts DC (pencil lead as conductor on + and -), molten KCl (half a cups worth in a stainless steel container, melted with propane torch), and here we go. I wish I had labelled the terminals, but here are my results: One of the electrodes formed a deep red liquid around it, and this liquid seemed to move from that electrode away from it.. the other electrode seemed to do nothing special. I kept the reaction going, and the molten KCl itself began to turn red hot (looked like magma).. after about 2 minutes the graphite was dissolving, so I halted the reaction. The KCl hardened very quickly, leaving a layer of reddish/brown solid on top (completely seperated, you could see where it actually layed on top of the molten KCl), and KCl on the bottom. The reddish brown solid did not react to water, therefore I don't think it was K. I read somewhere that Potassium will dissolve back into the molten KCl extremely quickly once it is formed.. I'm assuming that the reddish brown solid was a result of performing the electrolysis within a stainless steel container. Next time I will use actual carbon electrodes and a neutral container.

I see what you mean. I'll try to get hold of a stick of carbon, probably order online. Have you tried this experiment yourself?

Inert electrodes, thanks! Indeed I understand it's quite dangerous, I have prepared for such disasters.. however I am not trying to isolate a large ammount, just enough to verify that it is indeed potassium, and to realize that I was successful in isolating it. I'd like to start a collection of somewhat pure elements that I was able to isolate on my own. You've been extremely helpful :hyper: also if I may ask, are Pt and C inert electrodes in any compound or just this instance? Thanks again. edit: I just realized K boiling point is 759 C, while KCl is *melted* at 771 C.. I hate to ask these kind of questions in ignorance, but how am I going to electrolyze the element aside from gathering it as a gas from the anode? Forgive my ignorance, perhaps I should learn how this is done before trying to do it.

I see. I have already experimented using a 1/2" diameter KCl crystal, melted down and kept in molten form, and electrolyzed with with 12v DC, plain copper wires.. the resulting substance just seemed to be KCl, just remelted and let to cool. I imagine the electrolysis would cause copper chloride instead of releasing the Cl from the mixture itself, but.. any helpful info? Still learning the basics.

Can anyone give me an experiment in which K or Na is displaced or isolated from a compound such as salt or potassium nitate? Thanks in advanced.

arkain, thank you for the explanation. you said the H2O steals pieces of salt - are the bubbles caused from oxygen or hydrogen breaking free of the H2O to make way for an atom of Na or Cl? Is the NaCl broken down at all during electrolysis? or are the bubbles formed from a reaction between the Cu wire in the H2O+NaCl solution? I heard the + wire bubbles.. when I hooked up to a car battery, the terminal labeled - bubbled.. any ideas? thx

<A HREF="http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get_topic/f/39/t/000919.html">Glass, liquid or solid?</A> "Glass is an amorphous solid, which means that it hardens without crystallizing." That's about all I could conclude on that topic.

"Ferric cloride and sodium hydroxide " That's interesting. I filtered the solution and let the remaining substance dry on a piece of paper, it became a reddish brown (looks just like rust) and I scraped it off into a container. Thanks for the info, what are these substances used for, and can I make anything interesting using electrolysis?

Well I was prepared for an explosion/steam/toxic gas, juust wasn't prepared for the cord melting inside of the terminal. I won't be doing that experiment again without something to tone down the voltage. Thanks for the info, I'll probably do some more tonight and I'll remember the voltage and what-not.

Hey guys. I've never been into chemistry much, I failed it in Highschool and even dropped out of it in college. That's changed now however as I am getting older, I want to understand what everything is made of, and what I can do to experiment at home with chemistry. I don't have time any more for college classes, but I am studying on my own and reading online. Anyways, last night I was experimenting with electro-chemistry. I took normal salt-water, a DC current and put the wires in the solution. I read somewhere that the bubbling wire is positive, but what chemically is happening when the wire is bubbling? Also, I hooked a nail up to the bubbling wire and let it sit a while, I got a bluish liquid. When I hooked it up to the negative wire, I got a dark blacking liquid (which seperated itself equally on the top and bottom after sitting. When I put a nail on BOTH wires, and kept the wire itself out of the solution, I got a brownish-black liquid. I don't know chemically what is going on here. Also, I tried AC current through the solution (DANGEROUS- Dont try) .. one of the submerged wires sparked violently, and the liquid bubbled and turned green almost immediately. Any help appreciated, thanks.

Hi guys. Last night, I experimented with AC current in salt water. I used a straight plug in, no adapter.. just stripped the wires and put them in the solution.. so I was putting the full current from the socket into the salt water solution. It was very interesting. I am no chemistry expert at all, but this is what happened: One of the wires sparked violently in the solution, and in mere SECONDS the solution changed from clear to dark, murky green. I didnt experiment for long, because the plug that I was inserting into the AC socket was actually MELTING, and at one point I had trouble pulling it out of the socket because it had melted in there.. extremely dangerous situation, I don't suggest you try it unless you have some kind of adapter that reduces the ammount of power going into the solution. I'm perplexxed, why did the solution become green? I don't know alot about chemistry, but if salt is NaCl, and Chlorine is a greenish color, I suspect that is what was in the solution after putting AC through it but I don't know. Please, any input is greatly appreciated.